Hatch cover arrangement



`lune 10, 1969 P, E, HVER ET AL 3,448,785

HATCH COVER ARRANGEMENT f7? vevzof@ loe/- E, H Vef- P. E. HVER ET ALHATCH COVER ARRANGEMENT June l0, 19.69

Z of2 Sheet original Filed oct. 24, 1965 ATTORNEYS United States PatentO im. cl. Eosf 11/00, .I3/00,15/00 U.S. Cl. 160-188 3 Claims ABSTRACT FTHE DISCLOSURE In an arrangement for removing and reinstalling thesectional covers for the hatches of cargo ships and similar openings, inwhich the cover sections are provided at either side with rollersengaging track members extending along the respective sides of theopening, the improvement consisting in providing the track members withhorizontally extending spaced pins for engagement with toothed wheelsassociated with at least one roller on either side of at least one coversection, whereby the entire covering and uncovering movements areeffected at unifonm speed and independently of varying friction betweenthe rollers and the track members.

This application is ra continuation of Ser. No. 504,516, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to hatch cover arrangements for cargoships and similar horizontally extending openings, which are to becovered and uncovered by a number of cover sections extending across thehatch and adapted to be moved horizontally along the length of the hatchcoaming, from and to a vertical stacking position at one end of thehatch.

A principal object of the invention is to provide an arrangement,wherein the motion of the cover sections may be achieved in such amanner as to avoid .any staggering of the individual sections.relatively to the hatch coaming, while maintaining a high covering anduncovering speed and a positive moving action on the cover sec tionsright from and to their stacked position.

The hatch cover of the invention is of the type indicated, wherein eachcover section is provided at either end with at least one roller adaptedto cooperate with a track or rail member extending along and beyondeither hatch side coaming, and wherein the cover section which, in thecovered condition of Ythe hatch is situated lat the end of the hatchmost distant from the place wherein the cover sections are to bestacked, is provided with driving means for the shaft of one set ofrollers.

In hatch cover arrangements of the type indicated, it has been suggestedto make the rollers provided on the driven shaft act as drive rollersduring the motions of the cover sections, the section which is providedwith such drive rollers being pushing the remainder of the sectionsduring the uncovering motion towards the stack end of the hatch and,during the covering motion, hauling the remainder of the sections in thedirection away from the stack end of the hatch. Hereby, the individualsections are coupled in yany suitable manner for the purpose of enablingsuch motions in either direc-tion, such as by means of cooperating hookmeans on `adjacent sections, or by means of .suitable abutment facesduring pushing and chains, Wires or the like during hauling. Suchcoupling means do not form any part of the present invention, and arefamiliar to any man skilled in the present art.

In cases where the individual cover sections are of a particularly greatWeight, or under otherwise dicult conditions, such as heavy frost, itmay be that the inherent ICC frictional adherence between the driverollers and their tracks or rails is not suicient to effect themovement, and in particular to initiate the movement of the entire massof cover sections. On board ships, it would scarcely be possible toincrease such frictional adherence, such as by sand spraying, to theeffect that skidding may occur, with consequential additional wear ofrollers and tracks.

In hatch cover arrangements of the type indicated, the object of theinvention is achieved in a particularly simple and eicient mannerlthereby that the arrangement is made to comprise a hatch coaming, anumber of cover sections extending across the hatch and each providedwith roller members on either end, at least one track member extendingalong `and beyond each of two opposite sides of the said hatch coamingfor cooperation with the said roller members and being provided with agreat number of horizontally extending pins in spaced relation along thelength of said track members, one roller member to either side of atleast one of the said cover sections being provided with tooth formingradial projections adapted to engage the said track member pins. In suchan arrangement, a definite kick is obtained at the beginning of anuncovering motion of the cover, and at the same time the entire coveringand uncovering motions are effected at ya completely uniform speed,independently of any varying friction between rollers and tracks orrails.

Due to the fact that the elements on the hatch coaming, which are to beengaged by the teeth of the drive rollers are made in the form ofhorizontally extending pins, they may also be arranged on such rampformed portions of the tracks or rails which, as known, may be arrangedin continuity of the hatch coaming rails proper, for the purpose offacilitating the transfer of the cover sections from and into horizontalposition at the stack end of the hatch, thereby ensuring an effectivedriving engagement all along the path of the cover sections.

In order that the pin `and roller teeth arrangement should not hamperthe battening of the cover, the pins to be engaged by the roller teethmay be mounted on track or rail elements of the type which is mountedfor substantially vertical movement relatively to the hatch coaming, sothat the engagement between pins and roller teeth is only effective whensuch stack element is lifted for the purpose of breaking the batteningseal between cover and coaming.

The accompanying drawing schematically illustrates an embodiment of ahatch cover arrangement according to the invention, it being understoodthat only such parts which are essentialto the understanding of theinvention are shown in detail.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a partial side view of a hatch coaming showing that end ofthe same which is remote from the stacking end of the cover sections.

FIGURE 2 is a plan View, corresponding to the side view of FIG. 1.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view, on the line III-III of FIG. 1.

FIGURE' 4 is a partial side view of a hatch coaming corresponding toFIGURE 1 but showing the stacking end thereof with certain of the coversections in the course of being stacked.

FIGURE 5 is a plan view corresponding to FIGURE 4 but omitting, forclarity, the endmost cover sections and the terminal end of the ramp.

In the drawing, 1 is a hatch coaming, such as provided aboard a ship,surrounding a rectangular hatch opening into a cargo hold of the ship.The hatch is shown provided with a number of hatch cover sections 2which, in the embodiment shown, each is provided two sets of runningwheels or rollers 3 and 4, respectively, each roller set being composedof one roller mounted on either side of the cover section, for thepurpose of enabling the horizontal movement of each cover section alongthe top of the hatch coaming 1 during covering and uncovering of thehatch. The rollers 3, 4 are adapted to cooperate with rails 5, mountedon the coaming 1 to either side of the hatch along the length of thesame. A ramp may be provided in continuation of each rail 5 at the stackend of the hatch. The cover sections may be thereby tilted from thehorizontal position, shown in the drawing, to a vertical position (FIG.4) for stacking purposes. Such ramps may be made in the form ofextensions of the rails 5, or as separate rails 5' extending parallel toand beyond the rails 5.

For the purpose of moving the cover sections, the shaft 6 of the rollers3 of that section which, in the covering position is situated at thehatch end remote from the stack end, is provided with rotational drivemeans, such as an electric motor provided with a suitable gear means,indicated schematically at 6 in FIG. 3. Further, each cover section 2is, at the end abutting an adjacent cover section, provided withcooperating coupling means, schematically indicated at 7, such as in theform of hook elements, so that the driving section may haul theremainder of the sections along and push the same, during covering anduncovering motions, respectively. In addition, the sections may beinterconnected in the usual manner by means of a chain 8 to either sideof the coaming 1.

Cooperating cleat means 9 of any suitable form are mounted on thecoaming end sections, respectively.

In the arrangement of the invention, at least one of the rollers 3mounted at either end of the drive shaft 6, is provided with teeth 10.The rails 5, and the ramp rails 5' arranged in continuation of the same,are provided with corresponding tooth elements in the form of pins 11and 11', respectively. The toothed wheels 10 will cooperate with thepins 11, in the form of a track of projections, when the shaft 6 isrotating, and thereby secure the movement of the sections, independentlyof the friction conditions between the rollers 3 and the rails 5. Asshown in FIG. 2, two parallelly disposed toothed wheels 10 and 10 arearranged in the embodiment shown, the ramp rails 5 being situatedoutside of the rails 5, in the manner described in British Patent No.1,015,869. The toothed wheels 10 engage the pins 11 of the ramp rails 5.In the event the ramp is arranged in the same vertical plane at the endof each rail 5, only one toothed wheel 10 would be necessary.

So that the rails 5 and the toothed wheels 10y will not interfere withthe cover cleat means, and so that the cover sections may be lifted outof sealing engagement with the hatch coaming when uncovering is to beeffected by movement of the cover sections, the rails 5 are mounted inthe hatch coaming 1 for substantially vertical movement relative to thelatter. The rollers 3, 4 are thereby in engagement with the rails 5merely when the sections 2 are to be moved, while the sections 2 areotherwise in sealing contact with the coaming 1. The means provided forthis purpose do not form any part of the present invention and may be ofany suitable type. In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the rails 5are provided with obliquely disposed slots 12 adapted to cooperate withcorresponding pins mounted on the coaming 1 and provided with profiledheads 13. A device 14 is provided at the end of the coaming 1 forvertical movement of the rails as the pins 13 cooperate with the slots12. Lifting and lowering of the rails is thereby brought about into andout of engagement with the rollers 3, `4 so that the teeth 10 may engagethe pins 11.

What is claimed is:

1. Covering apparatus for a hatch comprising:

a plurality of cover sections extending horizontally across the hatchand adapted to be moved horizontally along the length of the coaming ofthe hatch, to and from a vertical stacking position beyond one end ofthe hatch;

a pair of tracks mounted along each side of the hatch coaming near theopen upper end thereof;

a pair of rollers rotatably mounted on opposite sides of each of saidcover sections near each end thereof for solely supporting the weight ofsaid sections and adapted to ride on one of said pair of tracks;

the other of said pair of tracks comprising a plurality of laterallyextending, horizontally spaced projections;

a toothed wheel rotatably mounted on opposite sides of one of said coversections remotest from said one end of said hatch, each of said toothedwheels being mounted near the end of said one of said cover sectionsremotest from said one end of said hatch, and each of said wheels beingengageable with said other of said pair of tracks; and

rotational drive means for rotating said Wheels while in engagement withthe projections of said other of said pair of tracks to move said coversections along the hatch opening.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cover sections are insealing engagement with the hatch coaming.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 further characterized by means forvertically raising said tracks, thereby lifting said cover sections outof sealing engagement from the hatch coaming to permit said horizontalmovement along the hatch coaming.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 537,655 4/ 1895 Walker 182-662,788,849 4/1957 Lingard 160-188 2,807,461 9/1957 Nes 160-188 2,853,1319/1958 Kummerman 160-188 3,183,874 5/1965 Barlow 160-188 X PETER M.CAUN, Primary Examiner.

